This picture might look like someone's Photoshopped some rear doors onto a DB9, but it's actually the first official image of Aston's new saloon, the Rapide. The designers at Gaydon tend not to mess around with their winning formula too much, so the Rapide follows the oft-strayed Aston Martin aesthetic path without veering. It's the reason there'll never be an Aston 4x4. Enter Lagonda...
Anyway, we digress. The point is that the Rapide is as roomy as it's going to get inside an Aston because the maker is adamant it will always craft low, beautiful and fast cars. So, the four-seater has rear seats that Aston claims are good for adults 'on shorter journeys', which doesn't really bode that well for its luxury saloon pretentions. But it's also spent the last few months pounding the Nurburgring, which does bode well for its supercar ones.
Most of the press release that accompanies this solitary shot of the Rapide is marketing guff about how good looking it is, but Aston has also confirmed that it will be powered by a handmade 6.0-litre V12 with 470bhp and 443lb.ft on tap. There are no stats of a performance nature to speak of, but we'd guess a sub five-second blast to 62mph and a 180mph-ish top speed. We'd also guess that if you asked an Aston salesman about its price, mpg or CO
2 rating you'd be quietly instructed to leave the dealership, right away, without a fuss. We'll let you know when Aston tells us that stuff, but rumour has it a £140,000 sticker will be slapped on the windscreen. The
Porsche Panamera will start at circa £70k. Hmm.
Other details include 'swan wing' rear doors that open upwards and outwards and a delicious pair of swage lines that begin at the front side air vents and fade out towards the rear. The five-metre long saloon will be officially unveiled in September - although there'll no doubt be a steady stream of new images until then - and first deliveries start in early 2010. Oh, and it'll be built in Graz, Austria - making it the first Aston not made in the UK.
Mark Nichol - 14 Apr 2009